S
uncity Group’s resort casino project in Vietnam will open for an ‘operational preview’ this weekend, part of the company’s ongoing evolution into an Asia-Pacific casino player.
On Tuesday, Suncity Group Holdings announced that the Hoiana integrated resort near Danang will welcome its first guests on Sunday, June 28, as a preview of some of the elements planned for the project’s Phase 1 development. Phase 1 was originally scheduled to open last year but has suffered a number of delays, the latest due to COVID-19.
While Phase 1 will eventually feature four swanky hotels, only one – the Hoiana Hotel & Suites – is apparently ready to welcome guests during the preview (the duration of which went unstated). The 18-hole Hoiana Shores Golf Club, designed by course architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., has been operational since early March. There will also be a “wide array” of dining, drinking and shopping options on hand.
Most importantly, the Suncity-managed casino will be more than willing to welcome guests onto its floor, and while the casino eventually plans to offer 140 gaming tables and 300 slot machines, the precise makeup and number of gaming positions available during the preview wasn’t specified. The project was issued a 60-year ‘casino operating license’ last month.
Suncity Group Holdings, a publicly traded company that shares ownership with the privately held junket operator Suncity Group, holds a 34% stake in the $4b Hoiana project. The other partners are real estate investment and development firm VinaCapital Group and Gold Yield Enterprises, a subsidiary of Hong Kong conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.
Originally a travel- and hospitality-focused enterprise, Suncity has undergone a dramatic reinvention over the past two years that has seen it take majority control of Russia’s most successful casino (Tigre de Cristal), lay the groundwork for a resort casino in Manila and strike a deal to manage gaming operations at a major casino project in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville region.
Suncity chair Alvin Chau said Tuesday that “the metamorphosis of Suncity never stops,” noting the company’s aforementioned projects “continue to grow as they all undergo transformation.” Chau invited the world to come check out Hoiana when it has its official Grand Opening next year.
